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LONG BLOG

Note to Destructoid: When I first read about the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott, I was livid. The reasoning seemed absurd, unreasonable, selfish, and greedy to me. Now I find myself feeling a similar sense of "entitlement", the kind of thing I'd normally scoff or sneer at. Being the guy that's living inside this mindset, it's hard to tell if there's any difference between me and those people. If there is not, then I ask that you recognize that I'm aware of the potential hypocrisy and willing to acknowledge it.

Also, I apologize for posting twice in one day. Hopefully, due to the current "I love Dtoid" meme as well as my passion today for this particular subject, you can forgive me.

(Let me first say that I am writing this to the listed contact address for Rocksteady instead of Eidos, as Eidos did not have "Arkham Asylum" listed as a game release. My understanding of distributor versus publisher is still somewhat limited, so if this E-mail has reached the wrong party, I ask that it please, please be forwarded to the correct one.)

My name is Damon R. Nagy and I just purchased a copy of the Arkham Asylum Collector's Edition from a local Game Stop. With most things, I'm willing to take my dissatisfaction and lumps and accept that buyers should beware the quality of a product prior to purchasing, but in this case I am nothing short of insulted and instead choosing to contact you as opposed to simply returning the title and never making any other Rocksteady/Eidos-related purchase ever again.

I am on an EXTREMELY limited budget, as I manage a recently-opened and independently-owned LAN center/used games shoppe in Denver, CO. At this moment, I don't earn a wage of any kind and my gaming options are limited to whatsoever is brought into the store, unless I should find something worthy of scrounging up all my loose change and lingering bills. Few games meet this requirement.

Having long been a fan of the DC Animated Universe and the voice actors and writer you chose to include in the development of Arkham Asylum, I was fairly certain that the extra forty dollars would be a worthy purchase, especially once photos of the set were release.

Truthfully, I'm not sure how wise it was to print that image on the very same box containing a visibly and comparatively inferior product.

First of all, the batarang is awful. No, I'm not arguing that I or anybody else should have expected a realistic approximation of a weapon, but I also don't believe that the released photo indicates ANYTHING along the lines of this plastic piece of crap. That's blatant false advertising, and you hoodwinked a fellow (I'm sure I'm not the only one) who's grown quite wary and cautious of false advertising in a country that tries and tends to sell first and hold itself accountable later. Maybe. If it's good for business.

Truthfully, I never wanted the damned batarang, and only used it as justification - an excuse for the fact that what I really wanted was the, presumably, content-packed special features Blu-Ray disc. An additional forty dollars seemed quite steep to me, but the gameplay videos were incredibly promising, and I'm a loyal and enthusiastic consumer, so what the hell? Had it been just the crappy batarang, I might have been able to accept the fact that I essentially paid an extra forty dollars for nothing but a bonus disc and a soft-leather journal of mediocre content. But once I put the bonus disc into the PS3 and was met with but two options, one of which housing some (not even ALL) of the promotional trailers for Arkham Asylum, and the other hosting a meager portion of featurettes, all of which only parenthetically referring to or including the talent cast of Arkham Asylum.

I repeat, I am nothing short of insulted.

I'm a huge fan of special features, and incredibly capable of inferring value where some people might find none, but to suggest to me that this Blu-Ray disc offering of but a few videos (most of which are and have been available for free online for months) and a terrible, just god-awful, plastic excuse-for-a-bonus-item batarang were worthy of my forty dollars is practically criminal.

Congratulations to whatever marketing team and photographer set up the presentation of this Collector's Edition, because I bought it hook, line, and sinker. Hell, I did it eagerly.

The most impressive part of this whole set is the box that it comes in, which WOULD be of some value if only it contained items of any worth!

Let it be known that I have never written a note to a company before, as I've never before been so invested or so upset over a purchase before which I spent a great deal of time and consideration. As I mentioned before, my purchasing power is limited, which perhaps makes me a "lesser" consumer in the eyes of an analyst. All the more reason for me to take the things I DO choose to spend my money on QUITE seriously.

As it stands, I'm not sure what could be done to satisfy me. I'm realistic enough to recognize that additional special features sets are unlikely, as you would've opened with more "meager" offerings and later released something as "good" as the collector's edition. Barring receipt of additional quality and value and content that I feel was advertised quite strongly, the only other solution I see is that of a refund and a regular copy of Arkham Asylum for the PS3. I am not unreasonable, nor am I looking for free stuff, and I'm perfectly happy to accept some kind of payment and the aforementioned copy of Arkham in exchange for my collector's edition. I simply want to handle this directly with you instead of taking out my frustration on some random Game Stop employee, thus fiddling with YOUR financial figures instead of THEIRS.

I ask that whoever is responsible for this egregious wrongdoing stand up and assume some accountability.

Sorry for the extra step!

About Sentryone of us since 1:15 PM on 01.02.2009

Blurb:
Damon is a twenty-something year-old manthing what currently "manages" an independently-owned games shoppe ("Game On!") in Denver, CO. He's entertained delusions of intelligence and relevance his entire life, and hopes to someday be recognized as a pundit in several fields, though his insatiable, insufferable ego will likely forever demand more. As it stands, the store he works at cannot afford to pay him, and as such his current gaming experiences are limited to those used titles that come through the store itself, or those rare occasions when his friends should happen to purchase something that he'd also like to play.

This fellow is arrogant, egocentric, narcissistic, and riddled with insecurities, anxieties, and contradictions, but occasionally - just every so often - manages to be a pretty okay, kinda' nice guy. A bit off-putting at first, but if you give him a chance he might just grow on you.